1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data input device, a data input method, and a data input program in which it is possible to input parameters by operating an object that is displayed on a display.
2) Description of the Related Art
Recently, along the development of work stations, it has become a main stream to input data by utilizing an operating system (OS) or a graphical user interface (GUI) function as an application program that is operated on the OS. When such a GUI function is provided, a user can select an object that has been displayed on a screen (“display object”) with a pointing device such as a mouse, or input numerical parameter values (data) relating to the display object. The display object is allocated with a predetermined function.
A conventional data input method of a display object that utilizes a GUI function will be explained below with reference to FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B. FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B show examples of optionally setting a plurality of color data (R, G, and B as the three primary colors in these examples) in the setting of a desktop environment and an image editing software. A mouse is used as a pointing device.
FIG. 12A shows an example of a data input method that uses a slider control as a display object. This slider control has a knob and a line along which this knob can move. A plurality of (three, in this example) slider controls are prepared corresponding to the setting of parameters (data input) of the color data (R, G, and B).
In the example shown in FIG. 12A, each slider control has a minimum value of zero and a maximum value of 255. Therefore, it is possible to input data values within the range of 0 to 255 corresponding to a position of the knob. The knob can be moved using a mouse device (“mouse”).
It is possible to input a desired value as data by moving the knob along the line with the mouse. In the example shown in FIG. 12A, values of R, G, and B have been set to 192, 160, and 64 respectively.
FIG. 12B shows an example of a data input method that uses a color chart. A display object is structured with a square grid of a large display size, and a vertical scale that is adjacent to this grid.
The grid is used to adjust hue and vividness. Hue is set to a horizontal axis, and vividness is set to a vertical axis. In this grid, a minimum value of hue is set to the left end of the horizontal axis, and a maximum value of hue is set to the right end of the horizontal axis. A minimum value of vividness is set to the bottom end of the vertical axis, and a maximum value of vividness is set to the top end of the vertical axis. Based on this arrangement, it is possible to set continuously changing colors between both ends.
A cross pointer is provided within the grid. It is possible to set values of hue and vividness corresponding to a display position of this cross pointer. On the other hand, the vertical scale is used to adjust brightness. A minimum value of brightness is set to the bottom end of the vertical axis, and a maximum value of brightness is set to the top end of the vertical axis. It is possible to set continuously changing values between both ends. Specifically, it is possible to set a value of brightness corresponding to a display position of an arrow-mark pointer that is provided at the right side of the vertical scale.
In other words, it is possible to set a display position by dragging the cross pointer with the mouse, and it is possible to input a desired value relating to hue, vividness, and brightness by setting (moving) the arrow-mark pointer of the vertical scale to an optional position. The hue, vividness, and brightness that are set with the cross pointer and the arrow-mark pointer are converted into each value of R, G, and B according to a predetermined table. The converted value is displayed as a sample color in a display area, not shown, that is provided on the same screen as the color chart.
However, the conventional data input method has the following problems. According to, the display object that utilizes the slider controls, one slider control can input (set) only one parameter value. Therefore, when there are a plurality of parameters that require the data setting, it is necessary to move knobs of the corresponding slider controls to predetermined positions with the mouse. This has had a problem of complicating the operation.
According to the display object that utilizes the color chart, when there are a plurality of parameters that require the setting, it is necessary to operate the cross pointer and the arrow-mark pointer separately. Therefore, the user is forced to move the pointers as well as the slider controls with the mouse. This has had also a problem of complicating the operation. Particularly, when it is the color chart, it is necessary to repetitively adjust each pointer position based on a display sample that is displayed in the display area, in order to obtain a desired result. This has had, a possibility of complicating the operation.
In the color chart, it is possible to input two parameters of hue and vividness by operating the cross pointer in two dimensions on the grid. However, there, is only one value that can be input per dimension. In order to input many parameter values, it has been necessary to display the vertical scale and other grid as shown in FIG. 12B.
As explained above, conventionally, a large portion of the screen display area is occupied by controllers for the user to operate these controllers in order to input a plurality of parameter values. Therefore, information that is displayed on the screen is hidden by the other work, and it becomes difficult to know the contents of the information.
Further, only one parameter can be input with the slider control and the color chart. Although the user control area (the display object) occupies a large proportion of the display area on the screen, that number of values that can be input is small. Therefore, there has been a problem that the work efficiency is lowered, as the control display hides the information.